Injector/valve combination designed to improve color dosing response time

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an improved injector/valve combination which permits nearly immediate response time to an actuator signal. Such a combination is particularly suited for injecting colorants into polyurethane slabstock foam and permits a substantial reduction in foam waste due to low colorations during an on/off cycle. Specifically, this invention combination comprises a novel ball valve which allows for instantaneous shut-off and -on without appreciable leakage or pressure drop and without the need to utilize a high throughput flow rate. Such a ball valve is used in combination with an injector which is actually attached to the valve, the configuration which permits continuous use and instantaneous on/off without a deleterious pressure drop and minimizes the possibility of turbulence as the liquid polymeric colorant flows through the injector. The ball valve, the attached injector configuration, the coloring apparatus comprising the inventive ball valve and/or the attached injector configuration, and the slabstock foam colored through the utilization of such an apparatus are also contemplated within this invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an improved injector/valve combination whichpermits nearly immediate response time to an actuator signal. Such acombination is particularly suited for injecting colorants intopolyurethane slabstock foam and permits a substantial reduction in foamwaste due to low colorations during an on/off cycle. Specifically, thisinvention combination comprises a novel ball valve which allows forinstantaneous shut-off and -on without appreciable leakage or pressuredrop and without the need to utilize a high throughput flow rate. Such aball valve is used in combination with an injector which is actuallyattached to the valve, the configuration which permits continuous useand instantaneous on/off without a deleterious pressure drop andminimizes the possibility of turbulence as the liquid polymeric colorantflows through the injector. The ball valve, the attached injectorconfiguration, the coloring apparatus comprising the inventive ballvalve and/or the attached injector configuration, and the slabstock foamcolored through the utilization of such an apparatus are alsocontemplated within this invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The demand for a wide variety of colors in polyurethane slabstock foamhas resulted in a significant move to blend-on-fly color dosing unitsbased on the use of polymeric colorants. In this case color meteringequipment is used to accurately dose two or more colors that areinjected into the polyol stream and subsequently mixed in the foammixhead to provide the correct shade and depth of color. The biggestadvantage of this type of approach is that now an unlimited number ofcolors can be made from 4 or 5 “primary” colors. In addition, changesfrom one dark color to the next can usually accomplished in relativelyshort distances minimizing the amount of foam that must be scrapped as aresult of the color change. Light shades have proven to be more of achallenge since the color throughput is substantially lower causing theresponse time to increase before changes actually made in the system cantake effect. A means was needed to reduce this response time to anacceptable level thus minimizing the length of time required to changefrom one color to the next even at flow rates (approaching 2 grams perminute or less.) To do this it was necessary to design a unique 3-wayvalve/injector system that minimized the volume between the injectionport and the recirculation line. This results in a rapid build up ofpressure and hence almost instantaneous feed when switching fromrecirculation to dispense mode. In addition to rapid initiation of colorflow it also required that flow be almost instantaneously interruptedeven at high throughput when the color was switched from dispensing modeback to the recirculation mode. This is to prevent the “bleeding” ofcolor back into the manifold when the need for color ends. The nearimmediate start and stop of color flow has been accomplished as a resultof the current invention.

Polymeric colorants (i.e., polyoxyalkylenated colorants) such as thosedescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,279 to Cross et al., herein entirelyincorporated by reference, have been used for a number of years to colorpolyurethane slabstock foam (i.e., in a continuous process). Prior tothe utilization of such polymeric colorants, pigment dispersion were themain source of polyurethane coloring compounds. Such dispersions havetraditionally proven very difficult to handle, too viscous for usewithin standard injectors, highly staining and thus difficult to cleanfrom standard injector equipment (without the need for environmentallyunfriendly solvents), and very abrasive and thus potentially damaging tothe delicate machinery associated with coloring slabstock polyurethanefoam. As a result, polymeric colorants are widely accepted as the bestmaterials for coloring polyurethane foam.

In the past, custom blends of polymeric colorants were made ahead oftime using two or more “primary” colors prior to incorporation withinthe target foam. The components would be mixed together using some typedof agitation such as mixer or drum tumbler. Once the blend was of anappropriate shade it was transferred to a storage tank for furtherintroduction within the foam substrate. Upon completion of coloring witha specific batch of polymeric colorant, the previously run color wouldhave to be emptied from the storage tank; the tank would need to becleaned; and then the next color to be run in the same tank would haveto be charged in the tank. Cleaning of the tanks, pipelines, etc., wasfacilitated due to the water-solubility of the polymeric colorants(particularly as compared to pigments); however, the procedures followedwere still considered labor intensive and not cost efficient. Thegeneral practice was then modified to maintain a dedicated tank for eachseparate color (shade) that was to run. This led to a number ofinefficiencies and limitations that were not desirable if a foammanufacturer was to adequately meet demands in the market place.

Polymeric colorants such as those cited above in Cross et al. weredesigned to be totally miscible with one another as well as with mostpolyols, one of the two main ingredients used to produce polyurethanematerials (isocyanates being the other). Pigment dispersions, on theother hand, are particulates dispersed in some type of liquid carrier.They require a high degree of agitation before they satisfactorily blendtogether to provide a uniform color. As a result the short amount oftime that the polyol and colorant are mixed in the typical slabstockfoam machine's mixhead is not sufficient to produce in an adequatemixture of components to insure a single, homogeneous colorationthroughout the target foam. Thus, another modification was madepermitting separate addition of desired polymeric colorants within apolyol manifold for subsequent blending as the polyol/isocyanate mixturepasses through the mixhead. As a result, well over half of all thecolored slabstock foam is produced in the United States through such amethod.

A configuration of this new (now typical) polymeric colorant productionline for slabstock foam is depicted in FIG. 1. This new coloring systemitself generally consisted of 4 to 6 “primary” color storage tanks (oneof which is depicted as 10 in FIG. 1) each feeding color to at least onepositive displacement spur gear pump 12 coupled to a variable speedmotor/drive 14 (such as available from Viking). The motor/pumpcombination 12, 14 was typically run continuously in eitherrecirculation or dispense mode (depending on the position of a 3-wayvalve 16) to minimize the time required to spool up the motor 14 to theproper rpm and to ultimately achieve the pressure required to initiatecolor flow into a pre-mix manifold 18 through an injector 20. Thethroughput pressure was typically measured through the utilization of apressure gauge 25 attached to the feed line 13 from the pump 12 to the3-way valve 16. The typical 3-way valve 16 was air actuated and used todirect the flow of colorant from the recirculation feed line 22 to thedispense feed line 24 (to the injector 20) when color flow to themanifold 18 was required. From the manifold 18, the colorant(s) wasmoved to the mixing head 26 and then further on to color the targetslabstock foam (not illustrated). Although this configuration has proveneffective in the past, there remain a number of problems associated withthis procedure which have heretofore been unresolved.

For instance, the market place demands that a foam producer be able toprovide dark shades as well as light shades with a variety of hues andpolyol flow rates. Since color is metered volumetrically a wide range ofcolor flow rates are required to insure low enough flow for a minorcomponent in a light shade. In addition, the polyol flow rates can be aslow as 10 kg/min and as high as 300 kg/min [color loading is generallystated in parts per hundred polyol (php)]. As the rate at which thepolyol flows is reduced so must the color rate be reduced to maintainthe same php. For most foams manufactured in the United States the colordelivery systems must be able to provide color flow as low a 2 grams/minand as high as 7000 grams/min or more. The rate at which color begins toflow when pumping 5000 grams/minute is generally very different thanpumping 5 grams/min until the present invention is incorporated. Priorto this point the general approach was to use a smaller diameter linefor the low flow range. Unfortunately, there are distinct limitations onsuch a small diameter (small bore) feed line, most notably the resultantthroughput pressure drop from pumping material several feet through asmall diameter line.

Furthermore, the typical polyurethane slabstock foam coloring system hasa three-way air actuated ball valve (28 in FIG. 2) that is positioned upnear the polyol manifold. Due to the configuration of the available ballvalves they are generally located approximately 1 meter from themanifold. As provided by the representation of a standard three-way ballvalve assembly in FIG. 2, material metered by the pump enters the top ofthe three-way ball valve 27 from the storage tank feed line 29 and exitseither through the recirculation side 30 or the dispense side 32depending on how the ball is oriented. FIG. 2 depicts the ball valve 27when it is oriented in the recirculation mode. Once it is desired tochange from recirculation to dispense and back to dispense the ballvalve 28 must typically rotate 180° from one side of the valve to theother (although there are some apparati which utilize a 90° ball valverotation) through the movement of an actuator (not illustrated) attachedto an actuator pin 34 which, in turn, fits into an identation (notillustrated) within the ball valve 27. Furthermore, the typical ballvalve 28 comprises a single channel 31 to accommodate the flow ofcolorant to either the recirculation side 30 or the dispense side 32.This single channel is configured at a right angle and thus maycontribute to laminar flow problems by requiring the colorant liquid toradically change direction, thereby altering the pressure over the totalliquid mass (and thus producing non-uniformity of pressures over theentire liquid colorant).

In addition to this 3-way valve, a device must be used to inject coloraway from the wall of the manifold to insure adequate subsequent mixing(i.e., to reduce the problems associated with laminar flow through afeed line having a larger diameter than the 3-way valve. Ideally, such adevice should function as a check valve to maintain pressure in the lineand to stop color flow when switching from dispense to recirculation.Such devices must maintain pressure after the dispensing unit isreturned to recirculation mode otherwise the pressure drops below the“cracking” pressure of the check valve spring which will result in evenlonger startups which, in turn, may translate in to cost overruns orpotentially greater amount of off-quality colored foam. Additionally,the resultant pressure drop must be acceptable across a broad deliveryrange for such injectors to alleviate any other related pressuredifference problems.

An entire colorant pumping system (such as discussed with regard to FIG.1, above) was developed to evaluate a variety of injection systems thatclosely resembles an actual production unit. It consisted of a spur gearpump from Viking coupled with a full flux vector motor and drive fromBaldor. Stainless steel tubing having an outside diameter of ¼ inch wasconnected to the discharge side of the pump. The distance from the pumpto the 3-way valve was approximately 40 feet. The distance from thestandard 3-way valve to the check valve was 3 feet. The motor/pump wasrun to insure pressure up through the 3 way valve and then it wasallowed to dispense to insure that fluid filled the line under pressurefrom the valve to the check valve. Measurements were then taken of thetime required from the moment the 3-way valve is switched fromrecirculation to dispense and the time that a liquid polymeric colorantactually began to flow at various throughputs. Colorant response time(the time required for colorant to begin to flow from the three-wayvalve to the injector) was compared with throughput flow rate for thiswell known system. The results are tabulated below:

TABLE Colorant Response Time (seconds) Flow Rate (g/min) 48 2.5 15 4 520 3 42 0 86

Thus, at low throughput flow rate, the time before delivery becomesexcessive. It initially took 48 seconds from the time the valve wasrotated until color began to flow at 2.5 grams per minute. This wouldrepresent almost 14 feet of off-quality foam generated with the conveyorspeed of 17 feet per minute or a loss of up to 700 lbs of foam makingchemical that would be disposed of as scrap. Obviously, an instantaneousdelivery was needed for all flow rates which has not been accorded theindustry by the prior art.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is thus an object of the invention to provide a ball valve within acolorant injector apparatus which allows for instantaneous switchingfrom a recirculating component to dosing to the injector withoutrequiring a high throughput pressure. Another object of this inventionis to provide an apparatus for coloring polyurethane slabstock foamwhich comprises a unitary injector/valve assembly. A further object ofthe invention is to provide a low throughput flow rate method ofcoloring polyurethane slabstock foam with a colorant injection whichsubstantially reduces and possibly eliminates the production ofoff-quality, improperly colored waste foam materials. Another object ofthe invention is to provide a significant improvement in coloringpolyurethane slabstock foam over the prior art through the utilizationof a two-channeled ball valve which allows for instantaneous on/offperformance at a very wide range of throughput pressures. Yet anotherobject of this invention is to provide an injector/valve assembly whichsubstantially reduces the problems associated with laminar flow ofliquid colorants or pigment dispersions in a coloring apparatus bypermitting introduction of the colorant material away from the walls ofthe manifold thereby limiting the potential for deleterious turbulence(and thus potentially problematic resistance and pressure changesthrough the entire system).

Accordingly, this invention provides a spherical ball valve having firstand second channels;

wherein each channel is exclusive of the other;

wherein said first channel has a first opening and a second opening,both of which are located at different locations on the spherical ballvalve surface; and

wherein said second channel has a first opening and a second opening,both of which are located at different locations on the spherical ballvalve surface. Also, this invention provides for an injector/valvecombination comprising such a spherical ball valve. Furthermore, thisinvention provides for an injector/valve combination wherein said valvecomprises a ball valve and said injector is placed at a location withinvery close proximity to the valve. By the term “very close proximity” itis meant that the two components are attached, either permanently ortemporarily, to each other (by a screw mechanism, for example), or thatthe two components are within at most about 12 inches away from eachother. The greater the distance between the three-way valve and theinjector, the greater potential for leak problems (which may result inoff-quality foam production and undesirable pressure changes, asexamples), as well as the greater possibility for longer colorantresponse times, as discussed above. Preferably, the valve and injectorare combined in a unitary assembly. however, as noted above, relativelyshort spatial distances may be employed between these two components. Insuch instances, a pipe, which is preferably straight, must be utilizedto connect the two components which itself must have the same bore sizeas the ball valve channel and the injector. Additionally, a method ofcoloring slabstock polyurethane foam utilizing a colorant apparatuscomprising such an injector/valve combination as discussed above, andthe resultant colored slabstock polyurethane foam are encompassed withinthe instant invention. The term “slabstock polyurethane foam” is a wellknown description of cured polyurethane foam, made from the reaction ofpolyols and isocyanates, which is uncolored and fed through a coloringapparatus in its bulky foamed state.

The instant invention solve the problems outlined above. A special 3-wayvalve was developed that comprises two exclusive channels that allowsthe valve to dispense from the bottom rather than feed from the bottom.In doing so the check valve was then connected directly to the bottom ofthe valve that would minimize the distance between the 3-way valve andmanifold. In addition, a special “injector” was developed introducingcolor away from the wall of the manifold. This valve/injectorconfiguration was tested in a similar manner as the standardconfiguration. The results was instantaneous flow regardless of the flowrate. In addition, due to the close proximity of the 3-way valve to theactual injection point, even if the injector leaked the volume is sosmall that it quickly filled again to the point that it would depressthe injector spring (or bevelled washers) allowing instantaneous flow.

Thus, two very important discoveries have been made with this inventionwhich permit a substantial reduction in waste of slabstock foam (therebyreducing costs to the end user and reducing the amount ofenvironmentally unfriendly off-quality polyurethane foam enteringlandfills, and the like). First, the specific ball valve (which is aspherical ball valve) configuration discussed above facilitates aninstantaneous on/off switching between a dispensing feed line to aninjector unit and a feed line to a recirculation assembly (to reduce theamount of colorant potentially wasted and to best insure the throughputpressure of the entire apparatus remains uniform at all times). Inparticular, this ball valve comprises two exclusive channels, one ofwhich is positioned to direct the flow of colorant to the recirculationassembly and the other to direct such a flow to the injector. This isaccomplished by having the two separate channels be aligned on totallyseparate axes (for instance, one on the x-axis and the other on eitherthe y- or z-axis). More specifically, the channel not on the x-axis mustenter the spherical ball valve at a point referenced as 0° on theparticular axis and exits the spherical ball valve at a point 90° on thesame axis. In this manner, the two channels are completely exclusive ofanother, thereby facilitating movement of the valve betweenrecirculation and dispensing modes. Furthermore, the configuration ofthe non-x-axis channel reduces the change of pressure on the liquidcolorant through the valve than with a standard right angle bendingchannel (it provides a sort of shunt). Such a ball valve has proven tobe invaluable in providing the necessary instantaneous on/off (colorresponse) times as well as maintaining the proper flow rate (at anextremely wide range from about 0.3 g/min to about 14,000 g/min).

An actuator is utilized, generally, to rotate this ball valve into thesespecific positions. Such an actuator includes a pin extending into thevalve assembly, the end of which pin is shaped to fit an indentation inthe ball valve. The actuator then turns the ball valve the requisitenumber of degrees to align the respective channel to the desired feedline (90° is preferred, although, in some instances, 180° may bepossible).

The second discovery with this invention has been that the valveassembly and injector unit can be moved in close proximity of oneanother in order to provide substantial reductions in waste foamproduction as well. In fact, a unitary assembly of the valve andinjector is preferred, particularly where the injector itself ispositioned in direct contact with the manifold of the coloringapparatus. Such close proximity requirement is significant since theapparati known in this industry all have injectors which are spaced aconsiderable distance from the dosing valve. The prior art dosing valvesbasically perform the function feeding the colorant either to theinjector or to the recirculation line; however, in all known instances,this three-way valve (from the colorant tank to either the injector orthe recirculator), is necessarily positioned a great distance from theinjector (about 3 feet on average) due to previously believedconfiguration problems. No other previously used or described ball valvepermitted a trustworthy instantaneous on/off function in order to bestguarantee off-quality foam would not be produced. Thus, the three-wayvalve and injector have traditionally always remained separated by asubstantial length of flexible pipe. Although such an apparatus hasproven to work well in the past, there has been no mechanism to reducethe amount of waste slabstock foam without resorting to the utilizationof relatively high pressures or flow rates. For instance, colorvariations in the resultant foam products occur with regularity in thestandard coloring assemblies when the pressure between the pump and thethree-way valve is significantly increased in order to reduce colorantresponse time (the time required to move the colorant from the three-wayvalve to the manifold). This is caused by pressure differences betweenthe area between the pump and the valve and the valve and the manifoldand the fact that polymeric colorants exhibit slight degreescompressibility which are not properly accounted for in the standardslabstock foam coloring assemblies. Since such colorants may betransported to the valve at an abnormally high flow rate to the injector(while the dispense feed line has not been in use and thus may exhibit alower amount of pressure), the overall colorant flow rate may oscillateto an abnormally low rate (to compensate for the pressure existingbetween the valve and the manifold) prior to its ultimate stabilization.This may require minutes of stabilization time which, again, may resultin minutes worth of waste off-quality foam product.

Furthermore, waste (off-quality) foam production has been caused bydelayed colorant flow (throughput flow rate), pressure drop, andturbulence problems, as noted above, which themselves are attributed tovarying bore sizes between the three-way valve, the colorant dispensingfeed line (to the injector), and the injector within standardpolyurethane slabstock foam coloring apparati. Additionally, thestandard three-way valves utilize ball valves comprising single channelsfor directing colorants. In general, these channels are formed in such away to require a right angle turn of the colorant liquid through thevalve assembly either to the injector feed line or to the recirculatorpipeline. Such a change of direction potentially increases the laminarflow problems associated with the movement of liquid colorants throughfeed lines (since the flow of discrete portions of the liquid materialwill not be substantially uniform) and can subsequently result indeleterious pressure changes which, again, can result in off-qualityfoam production.

The inventive ball valve and injector/valve assembly have provided ameans to avoid all of these problems and potentially damagingcircumstances, particularly where the bore size of the channels of theball valve and the feed line through the injector and to the manifoldare also substantially the same. Thus, the invention permits asubstantial reduction (almost total elimination) of waste foam upon theutilization of very low, but highly desirable, flow rates and alsoallows for the utilization of an extremely wide range of flow rateswithout an appreciable pressure drop through the entire apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of the prior art coloring procedure utilizing thepreferred injector/valve com

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross section of the prior art three-wayvalve/injector combination.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross section of the preferred spherical ballvalve sliced through its y-axis.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross section of the preferred injector/valvecombination.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of the preferred coloring procedure utilizing thepreferred injector/valve combination and the preferred spherical ballvalve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS INCLUDING PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The spherical ball valve 40 of FIG. 3, which may be made from stainlesssteel (preferably), titanium, carbon steel, and the like, comprises afirst channel 42 which runs through the entire sphere on one single axis(the x-axis, for instance) and at a specific angle (such that the entirechannel 42 is located at 0° on the x-axis). The ball valve 40 alsocomprises a second channel 44 which runs through the entire sphere whichhas a passage with an entry port on the y-axis and a second entry porton the z-axis, wherein the passage lies on the yz plane. Through thisconfiguration, the first channel 42 permits flow of the liquid colorant(not illustrated) through the valve 40 to a recirculation feed line (58of FIG. 4) when aligned with the inlet feed line (52 of FIG. 4) from astorage tank (72 of FIG. 5). Upon rotation of 90° by the utilization ofa actuator pin (60 of FIG. 4) attached to an actuator (62 of FIG. 4)engaged with a properly shaped indentation (not illustrated) located atthe point 270° on the y-axis in and of the ball valve 40, the firstchannel 42 is disengaged from all of its corresponding feed lines (52,58 of FIG. 4) and permits the flow of liquid colorant (such as polymericcolorants, not illustrated) through the ball valve 40 (43 of FIG. 4) andinto the dispensing feed line (64 of FIG. 4). The bore of each channel42, 44 is the same for each; however, the actual size of both bores insaid channels 42, 44 may be of any size as long as they are the size asthe bore of the inlet feed line (52 of FIG. 4), the recirculation feedline (58 of FIG. 4), and the dispensing feed line (64 of FIG. 4). Theball valve 40 (43 of FIG. 4) size is merely dependent upon the amount ofspace between all of the feed lines (52, 58, 64 of FIG. 4) within theentire valve assembly (41 of FIG. 4). The dispensing feed line (64 ofFIG. 4) permits the flow of the liquid colorant (not illustrated) intothe injector (66 of FIG. 4) which itself possesses the same size bore asthe ball valve 40 and the feed lines (52, 58, 64 of FIG. 4). Theinjector (66 of FIG. 4) may be attached to the valve assembly 41 by wayof a screw mechanism (not illustrated), in which case a straight screw(not illustrated) is preferably and beneficially utilized in conjunctionwith a rubber gasket (68 of FIG. 4) thereto attached. However, theinjector (66 of FIG. 4) may also be welded, or the like, to the valveassembly 41 as well.

FIG. 5 thus incorporates the preferred injector/valve combination (70 ofFIG. 4) into the entire slabstock foam coloring apparatus and procedure.The colorant is transported from a storage tank 72 to at least onepositive displacement spur gear pump 74 coupled to a variable speedmotor/drive 76 (such as available from Viking). The motor/pumpcombination 74, 76 is run continuously in either recirculation ordispense mode (depending on the position of the 3-way valve 78). Indispense mode, the colorant flows through the injector 80 into a pre-mixmanifold 82. The throughput pressure is measured through the utilizationof a pressure gauge 84 attached to the feed line 85 from the pump 74 tothe 3-way valve 78. The 3-way valve 78 is air actuated (although anyother type of actuator may be used) and directs the flow of colorantbetween either the recirculation feed line 86 or the dispense feed line(and thus to the injector 80) depending on whether color flow to themanifold 82 is desired. From the manifold 82, the colorant is moved to amixing head 88 and then further on to color the target slabstock foam(not illustrated).

There are, of course, many alternative embodiments and modifications ofthe present invention which are intended to be included within thespirit and scope of the following claims.

What we claim is:
 1. A liquid transfer apparatus comprising a valveassembly, an inlet feed line, a dispensing feed line, and arecirculating feed line; wherein said valve assembly comprises a ballvalve having first and second channels, wherein each channel isexclusive of the other, wherein said first channel has a first openingand a second opening, both of which arc located at different locationson the spherical ball valve surface, wherein said second channel has afirst opening and a second opening, both of which are located atdifferent locations on the spherical ball valve surface, and whereinsaid first and second channels have substantially the same bore size andshape; wherein said inlet feed line transfers liquid into said valveassembly; wherein said valve assembly is oriented either to transferliquid into said dispensing feed line or into said recirculation feedline; and wherein said recirculation feed line is oriented to transferany liquid transferred thereto back to said inlet feed line.
 2. Theliquid transfer apparatus of claim 1 wherein said liquid is at least oneliquid colorant.
 3. The liquid transfer apparatus of claim 2 whereinsaid at least one liquid colorant is a polymeric colorant.
 4. The liquidtransfer apparatus of claim 1 wherein said dispensing feed linecomprises a channel which is of substantially the same bore size andshape as that of said first and second channels of the ball valve. 5.The liquid transfer apparatus of claim 4 wherein said liquid is at leastone liquid colorant.
 6. The liquid transfer apparatus of claim 5 whereinsaid at least one liquid colorant is a polymeric colorant.
 7. The liquidtransfer apparatus of claim 4 wherein said ball valve comprises anx-axis, a y-axis, and a z-axis; wherein said first channel is located onsaid x-axis; and wherein said second channel is located the yz plane. 8.The liquid transfer apparatus of claim 7 wherein said liquid is at leastone liquid colorant.
 9. The liquid transfer apparatus of claim 8 whereinsaid at least one liquid colorant is a polymeric colorant.
 10. Theliquid transfer apparatus of claim 7 wherein said first opening of saidfirst channel is at a location of approximately 0° on said x-axis andsaid second channel is at a location of approximately 180° on saidx-axis; and wherein said first opening of said second channel is at alocation on said y-axis and second channel is at a location on saidz-axis.
 11. The liquid transfer apparatus of claim 10 wherein saidliquid is at least one liquid colorant.
 12. The liquid transferapparatus of claim 11 wherein said at least one liquid colorant is apolymeric colorant.